It's reported that Bradley Manning's mountain of leaked data ended up being published by WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange sees the young soldier as a hero who's been hung out to dry by the US government. Mr Assange is still holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

TONY EASTLEY: It's reported that Bradley Manning's mountain of leaked intelligence data ended up being published by WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange sees the young soldier as a hero who's been hung up to dry by the US government.

Mr Assange is still holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as he avoids questioning over sexual assault allegations in Sweden.

Julian Assange, good morning. No doubt you've been watching the Manning case closely and you've learnt of the outcome so far. What's your reaction?

JULIAN ASSANGE: This is the first time that a whistleblower in the United States has been convicted for espionage for communicating with the press. That's a serious new precedent and that's part of Obama's war on whistleblowers, part of Obama's war on journalism in fact.

Barack Obama has proceeded with more prosecutions against whistleblowers for espionage than all previous presidents combined, going all the way back to 1917. In fact he's done double.

TONY EASTLEY: Is this what you expected when you distributed the leaked material? After all Bradley Manning gave the mountain of leaked data to WikiLeaks.

JULIAN ASSANGE: Well we've never said who our sources are. We have a range of sources. But in this case the prosecution alleges and Bradley Manning accepts that he has contributed a variety of material.

This is an example of national security extremism. There's no other word for it. It is a violation of the rule of the law. No-one looking on this feels that the United States through its actions here comes away looking like there's been a just outcome. The only just outcome in this case was an acquittal because of the types of charges levied against Bradley Manning.

But we know what this is about. We know what this is about. This an embarrassed superpower, and this embarrassed superpower, whose criminal actions that have led to the murders of thousands of people has been exposed and it is after an insider and an outsider - insiders to terrorise everyone inside the government from following suit and an outsider to terrorise any other journalist or publication that tries to follow us.

TONY EASTLEY: Julian Assange, does this Manning case have relevance for you if you ever end up in the USA for instance?

JULIAN ASSANGE: It certainly does have relevance to me. It has relevance to Edward Snowden and so on. That's the idea of course, that it does have relevance to act as some kind of terrible deterrent.

TONY EASTLEY: Julian Assange, from a personal point of view, can I ask you - this young man is likely to spend decades behind bars; are you comfortable with WikiLeaks' role and indeed your own role in this case?

JULIAN ASSANGE: That's one of the pleasing things that came out in this court case. There is, was no evidence presented that WikiLeaks had failed in its duties in any way whatsoever - no internal material from us, none of our reporters going over to the other side or anything like that.

TONY EASTLEY: But how do you feel about this young man likely, is likely to spend decades behind bars? How do you feel about that personally?

JULIAN ASSANGE: Well the situation is just disgusting. I am disgusted by the conduct of the Barack Obama administration. Personally in relation to Bradley, well, he's someone I have a lot of sympathy for. He's been in solitary confinement. He was treated in a very adverse manner. The UN Special Rapporteur for torture made a formal finding against the United States.

I've been in conditions which are not nearly as severe but equal duration of time, been in solitary confinement. I understand some of what he is going through.

TONY EASTLEY: Is it damaging for the future of WikiLeaks, the outcome of the Manning case?

JULIAN ASSANGE: No I don't think that's true. We did win an important victory today. Coombs, Bradley Manning's lawyer, put it this way; that we've won the battle now it's time to win the war. And that was knocking out the death penalty offence against Bradley Manning.